Unsolved Game of Thrones Mysteries - Part 2

To continue my series of Unsolved Game of Thrones Mysteries, according to IGN, I'm bringing you theories 4-6 today!

Check Part 1 out

SPOILERS BELOW!
If you haven't caught up on Season 5 of Game of Thrones and/or you haven't finished reading the available book series, don't read this post!!
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4. What Happened to Syrio Forel?

Just a refresher, since we haven't seen him since Season 1, Syrio was the swordsmaster that was teaching Arya how to fight way back in 2011. The last time we saw him, he was taking on a room full of Kingsguard (led by the creepy Meryn Trant, who unfortunately for him ran into Arya in the last episode of season 5) with a wooden training sword. We are led to believe that he has died...but we have come to expect a death scene for every "official death" now and we didn't get one with Syrio.

So? Is he dead or not? As a book reader, I have always thought that Syrio was in fact Jaqen H'ghar, the faceless man who is now training Arya in the show. It seemed that Jaqen had a strange connection with Arya and that could be because he met her as Syrio earlier in the story. We also get a small clue to Jaqen's whereabouts in the books (he is not training Arya in the House of the Black and White in the books) with Pate in Feast for Crows...but for the most part both Syrio and Jaqen have gone missing from the pages.

In the show however, I'm not sure if they will even bring up the fact that we didn't get a death scene for Syrio. I think that his scenes were so long ago coupled with the fact that Arya brought justice for Syrio's supposed death, it may be stretching it by bringing him back into the story. We are starting the back stretch of this wonderful story...and I just don't see how bringing Syrio back to life would help much with the show.

Now, the behemoth sized books are a different stor, you could fit a few Lord of the Rings stories into the size of the books and it would still leave you with 400 pages of content. I don't think Syrio is dead in the books, honestly. Bring Syrio back if needed, have him help Arya out. But it isn't worth the screen time on the show, in my opinion.

5. What Happened to Benjen Stark?

Ok, I'm going to start this answer off with a quick WTF to HBO for making book readers pretty much crap their pants with the "Previously On..." segment for the last episode. When they referenced Benjen in the recap my heart skipped a beat! How could you HBO! You and your teasing ways!

Ok, enough of that. Does anyone remember Benjen? Well, again, the last time we saw him was in Season 1. He had come down to Winterfell, spent some time with his brother, Ned, and recruited Jon to join the Night's Watch. Once back up on the Wall, Benjen went missing on a ranging mission and we haven't seen him since.

Jon has been searching for him through most of the following seasons, as he circled around different plot lines beyond the Wall. But, nothing. No trace. So, what happened to him?

Well, I've had a theory for a long time that a character in the books, Coldhands, is actually Benjen...however I've read several articles debunking this, and Martin has actually pretty much dismissed the idea. I don't want to get too far into Coldhands, but let's just say he is an asterisk on the White Walkers story line. He is a "good guy" White Walker, that helps Bran get to the Three-Eyed Raven. Makes sense: if Coldhands was Benjen, he would help his nephew, right?

So, if he isn't Coldhands...where the heck is he?! Good question. I have no idea. Again, Martin tends to definitively write when someone is dead or not and we haven't seen that with Benjen. I have a VERY strong feeling that he will come back before the series is over, in some capacity and play a pretty large role for the Stark family. We will just have to wait and see what Martin cooks up.

6. What happened to Balon Greyjoy?

Argh. I hate this guy. Poor Theon, he just wants his Dad's approval. Well, you know what, never mind poor Theon, he freakin' turned his back on Robb...but Balon is a douche.

If you don't remember, the last time we saw Balon, he was hanging out with Theon's sister, Asha/Yara (name is different in the book/show) when he receives a package (no pun intended) from Ramsay Bolton that had some pieces of his son, Theon. Balon shows no interest in helping his son, but Yara is like...screw this, I'm saving my brother! Her rescue attempt was pretty poor, but it is the thought that counts.

*spoiler warning for TV watchers in this paragraph!*
Balon hasn't been seen since...nor has any Greyjoy other than Theon. In the books, the Greyjoys start playing a bigger role because of a...um...completely random fatal stumble off of a sky bridge by Balon. That's right, the ruler of the Iron Islands, Balon, falls off a sky bridge and dies. Theon's uncles (who haven't appeared in the show yet) and Yara, try to make their claim for the Iron Islands through most of book four, while Theon is being tortured and turned into Reek by Ramsay. So, that's the answer to this mystery...he randomly dies...in the books.

The show will take a little bit different approach to this, I'm assuming. Since no other Greyjoy has played a significant role in the story, I think Balon will be sticking around a bit longer...if only to introduce some of the rest of the Greyjoy family or progress Yara's story. I think the ending for his tale will be the same, he will most likely die in Season 6 to start the wheels turning on the other Greyjoys.

Unsolved Game of Thrones Mysteries - Part 1

SPOILERS BELOW!
If you haven't caught up on Season 5 of Game of Thrones and/or you haven't finished reading the available book series, don't read this post!!
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Recently, IGN posted an article on their website with 9 unsolved Game of Thrones mysteries left in the series. I would assume that author, George R.R. Martin has all the answers and I am hoping that we will soon have some of these answers as he finishes up the 6th book of the series over the next year. However, until then, we are only able to speculate...and that's what I'm hear doing.

I read through this article on IGN and thought that I would try to answer my theories on the answers and why. I don't really want to give it all away right here in this post, I only want to try and lead you in the right direction while coming up with your own conclusions. So, let's get this started!

1. Where is Rickon Stark?

WHO? I don't know of another Stark?! Oh, wait, you mean Bran's little brother that we have barely seen but has been more involved in the show than the books? Yeah, that kid.

Well, the last time we saw him, he left Bran's side on their journey to the three-eyed raven, accompanied by Osha, the once wild-ling now turned body-guard to the Stark boys. Osha states that there are many Stark supporters in the North and that she would bring Rickon to one of them.

Poof. That's the last time we have seen either of them. So, my theory is that the next time we see Rickon in the show, he and Osha will have completed their mission and be kept protected by one of these allies.

Who could it be? Well, I know that Howland Reed (the father of the two kids that have been helping Bran [R.I.P. Jojen]) has recently been announced as a member of season 6. He also plays a big part in Jon Snow's backstory...but we will get to that later. My money is that production will tie up a few loose ends with Howland and one of them will be Rickon.

2. Who is the Night's King?

He is one bad dude, that's for sure. For those who aren't sure who we are talking about - this is the leader of the White Walkers and the one who did the "come at me, bro" arm lift toward Jon Snow...while raising dead Wildlings and Night's Watch to join the King's army.

Yep, you know who I'm referring to now. There is a lot of backstory to this character. Supposedly he used to be stationed on the Wall as the 13th Night's Watch Lord Commander...like hundreds of years ago, where people actually thought it was honorable to serve on the Wall. He fell in love with a woman of the woods, who was super pale (almost glowing white) with super cold skin. HMM. Sounds like some people we may know?

Anywho, they fall in love, he breaks his vows and they have...urhm...adult wrestle time. When this happens, she steals his soul, Sheng Tseng style. They end up taking one of the Keeps on the Wall and he declares himself King and this crazy ice lady his Queen. Nasty things happened on the Wall after this for a while, until there was an awesome alliance of powerful warriors to take the Night's King out.

His name was erased from the records as ever being a Lord Commander...and he disappeared along with his name. The question is - what was his name while he was alive? Theories inside the book state that he was a Bolton, an Umber or even...a STARK! Dun-dun-dun!!!!

Supposedly, the "come at me, bro!" dude is this said Night's King...back to kick some tail with a super big army.

You can read more about the Night's King here.

3. Who is Azor Ahai?

Oh man, for real, if you don't want spoilers you need to stop reading here, because all signs are pointing to what I'm about to type below...and this could be a major game changer to the story.

...ok...?

Alright, here we go. First, let's remind you who Azor Ahai (AA) is in the Game of Thrones TV Show. This name isn't spoken much in the show, but it is referenced plenty in the books for readers to remember. AA is pretty much the savior of the universe in the eyes of Lord of Light's followers. Think of AA as Jesus...or Neo in the Matrix...or Frodo in LOTRs. A more specific backstory can be found here, but just think of AA as the Savior.

So, through most of the story we have seen so far, Melisandre has been insistent that Stannis is the chosen one, the AA. He has a sword similar to Lightbringer and a lot of prophetic signs have pointed at Stannis in some way. Mel believes AA has got to be her main-man, Stannis.

But, as we saw in the last episode of Season 5, she has a change of heart. She sees something in her fires, or just sees some crazy stuff happening with Stannis in general that makes her abandon her savior. She is visibly distraught when she returns to the Wall later in this episode and now seems lost.

However, I don't think she will be lost for much longer. I think she happened to appear at the right place at the right time. The Wall is home to one of our favorite characters right now, one of our focal characters, Jon Snow. All hints, especially in the books, are dropping heavily towards Jon being the Chosen One. Let me list a few of these hints out for you:

• As we saw in the last episode, Jon looks to be dead. Like, dead-dead. However, in prophecies state that the AA will be REBORN...which if we have any faith in the story - Jon will have to be resurrected by Mel's red magic. Boom - reborn, right there! Not to mention, that would relieve Jon from his oath on the Wall, you know, since he died.
• In the books, often when Mel looks into her fires for answers and hints towards AA, she only sees Jon or a ton of snow. 
• Jon has dreams in the books where he is fighting the White Walkers with a flaming sword made of ice...this would be Lightbringer in the tales of AA.
• In some ways, Jon sacrifices Ygritte similarly to how the tales of AA state he sacrifices his love, Nissa Nissa.
• Theories of Jon's parents (which we will talk about later) is leading some fans to believe that he is the focal point of this entire show, not Dany. The book series is the "Song of Ice and Fire," which could be a direct hint at it's main character's bloodline: Stark (Lyanna) - Ice, Targaryen (Rhaeger) - Fire. See, I told you there may be huge spoilers here. 

Now there is also a HUGE push that Dany still may be the AA. But, with Jon's recent run-ins with the Night's King and all signs pointing GO on his ressurrection...I feel like it HAS to be Jon at this point.

Martin has been one to surprise me though, so who knows!

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Please look for part 2 and 3 coming soon!